Aristocrat’s takeover bid of Playtech likely to fail

Negotiations are said to be ongoing.

The acquisition of gaming technology giant Playtech by Aristocrat is unlikely to happen after it emerged that a vote of the former company’s shareholders was unlikely to pass the 75% mark needed to approve the measure. 

The takeover bid had been made in October and appeared likely until doubt was cast on the proceedings last week. A contingent of Asian investors with enough voting clout to strike down the measure were rumored to not be supportive and, ahead of a meeting of shareholders later today, the votes will indeed not be mustered.  

While the 75% threshold has not been passed, a majority of Playtech shareholders were indeed supportive of the takeover.   

Despite announcements from both Playtech and Aristocrat that the sale would likely not happen, negotiations are said to be ongoing. 

Aristocrat CEO and Managing Direct, Trevor Croker, had this to comment: “We are disappointed that our recommended offer to acquire Playtech plc is expected to lapse. Notwithstanding extensive due diligence on Aristocrat’s part, developments since the announcement of our offer have been highly unusual and largely beyond Aristocrat’s control.” 

Despite the failure of the sale, Playtech has maintained that the long-term health of the company is robust.  

As group CEO Mor Weizer commented: “Playtech remains in a strong position and continues to perform very well across its core B2B and B2C businesses. This progress reflects the quality of our technology and products and the hard work and commitment of our talented team. 

“We remain confident in our long-term growth prospects and, in particular, our ability to benefit from the structured agreements… that are already allowing Playtech to access newly opened gaming markets.”  

Indeed, Playtech announced that the release of its FY2021 results were imminent and that they, by many measures, results were expected to exceed expectations.  

Cameron Saunders

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